right now at 11:00 breaking news in south san jose. one person taken to the hospital after a car ended up crashing into the front porch of a home. as you can see. it happened about two hours ago in the section of lawson avenue and sanity why theresa boulevard. one of those cars ended up on the front porch of that home right there. one person was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. we are told she is responsive, though. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm terry mcsweeney. >> i'm peggy bunker. happening also right now president obama is getting ready to hold his latest news conference of the year. now, later tonight he and his family will head to hawaii for the christmas vacation so this will be his last news conference. once the president's news

conference(=14,eju well, will bring it to you live. >> to a developing story in san francisco. that's where a garbage truck has hit and killed a pedestrian in the city's tender loin neighborhood. it happened about 7:30 this morning near the intersection of jones and opharrell. he was hit by an ecology garbage truck going in reverse, and this is the third deadly crash involving an ecology garbage truck since just. >> we have new details about the fight of a bay area family to cç support. they are taking their fight to court this afternoon. the attorney for her family says he will file an injunction in alameda county superior court today. the injunction would prevent doctors at children's hospital oakland from taking the teenager off a ventilator. the attorney says the hospital wants to take her off life support soon, but he has not specified a specific time. the family is asking that she stay on a ventilator. the hospital says it cannot release certain information because the family cannot give

it legal permission. >> this took place wednesday evening at a home on armor way. her husband was out when she heard a loud knock at the door. she knew something was wrong. fled to her bedroom where she called her brother. the four men out front kicked down her door, ransacked the house. they eventually made it upstairs to her location. they put a gun and knife up to her and demanded money. her jewelry. police tell us she tried to give them her gold necklace she was wearing, but was too nervous. her hands were shaking too much to be able to take it off. one of the men impatiently ripped it from her. they also took small electronics, including tablets and cameras. all four men escaped into an suv

where a fifth person, the getaway car driver, was waiting. police tell us the vehicle was a mid 2000 infinity suv or something similar in make. silver or gray in color. the four men, they're african-american. no description for the getaway driver. this woman was not seriously hurt during this ordeal. you might wonder why her first instinct was to call her brother and not police. apparently she is new to the country and not familiar with 911. it was her brother, bi, who ended up calling p.d. to get them alerted what was going on. reporting here from fremont police, bob riddell, nbc bay area news. >> the search is also on for the suspects involved in a home burglary in the los altos hills. investigators are hoping you can help by taking a good look at the surveillance video. released by the santa clara county sheriff's department. deputies say the three men seen here broke into a home on barry hill lane wednesday afternoon. they came in through the sliding glass door. no one was home at the time. the suspects ransacked the place and took off with a jewelry box. also, take a look at this

sketch. police in pleasanton say this is the man who may be responsible for several recent home break-ins. the latest was december 3rd at the civic square apartments. officers say a ten yabt came home to find this man inside. the victim says a suspect put his hand under his jacket and said he had a gun and threatened to kill him if he called anyone. the suspect then took off with cash and jewelry. investigators say the suspect may have broken into several other units at the same apartment complex. well, today the attorney for the 16-year-old oakland boy accused of lighting another teenager on fire will ask that his client be tried as a juvenile. right now prosecutors are charging richard thomas as an adult with a hate crime enhancement. in court today the defense will file a motion asking the judge to send the case to juvenile court. is he accused of setting 18-year-old sasha fleschman's skirt on fire aboard an ac transit bus. >> today officers will continue their investigation into a dog fighting ring busted right here in the bay area. police went to an east oakland home on eldridge avenue to serve

a warrant yesterday. nobody was home, but they did find 11 pit bulls chained up in kennels in the backyard. one dog bit two people before being subdued. animal control says this is one of the big errs everier operations knee seen in a while. >> this was a much, much more sophisticated operation that 11 ñz chained independently so they couldn't interact with one another all undersocialized, medication, syringes, all those things.

>> it sdpt mean that the jury did not believe nigella lawson's story. the two personal assistants abused lawson's trust and spent over $1 million with her credit card, which actually belonged to her ex-husband, charles. that, instead, the#hx jury foun that the assistant's story that lawson, in fact, approved those purchases and that she is a frequent user of cocaine may have done that for several reasons. most likely to curry favor with the women to prevent the secret of the drug abuse getting out. at least that has been the major tact of the defense. >> my client, naturally relieved at the verdict of the jury. this has been a long, hard fight played out in the world's media. >> this is a huge blow to nigella lawson. her reputation, of course, and her career which she is just beginning to launch in the united states. i'm jim maceda, nbc news

reporting from london. back to you. frustration is increasing among cardholders across the country who say they just cannot get through to target to see if they have been victims of fraud. nervous shoppers have flooded target's on-line customer southwest and tied up phone lines err since the company acknowledged that hackers have stolen credit and debit card information from 40ñrg) millio target customers. the breach covers cards swiped at every u.s. store between november 27th through yesterday. the company did tell customers it does not look like pin numbers were stolen. >> peg yishg the popular option of an e-mails receipt could be -- the paperless option is convenient for shoppers, but privacy experts say merchants are doing a lot more with the information than just sending you a receipt. >> once they got it, they will build a database, and they'll market to you and, yes, they can sell it to third parties that can use it for their own. >> experts say if you use

paperless receipts at several stores, data aggregators could track you down to your home address. happening today, holiday shoppers who take bart in the east bay are getting some special service. oakland and bart police are teaming up with volunteers to escort bart riders to their cars. this is happening at the west oakland and fruitveil stations as well as the bayfair station in san leandro. bart says they offer the service every year to help keep riders safe during the holiday season. that's when property crime increases brsh the service will be offered from 5:00 to 8:00 tonight. it is a busy morning at san jose's sacred heart community service where at this hour they are handing out gifts to children in need, and also hoping they have enough for each and every family. turns out this year sacred heart is about 3,000 toys short. now, the call was put out yesterday when that number was 6,000 toys short. as you can see, many people heard about that shortage. they showed up with gifts. they are hoping that even more toys and gift cards will roll in to accommodate about two toys and one book per child. according to sacred heart, this

help is need bid working families who just can't make ends meet over the holidays. >> we work together. that's more important than anything else. if i can, my son, he wants a football. i would like to get him a football. >> well, they did have a lot of footballs there. we're sure hoping he got one. families taking part in today's toy box program registered back in november so they knew exactly how many families to expect. total there came to about 2,500 families. about 6,000 children. dozens of stuptsz in the south bay get an early christmas present as well today. >> campbell city officials will hand out new bikes to 100 elementary and middle school students in need. that's going to happen this afternoon. they get to pick out their perfect rides. the bike giveaway kicks off at 1:00 this afternoon at the campbell middle school gymnasium. we want to let you know that happening right now president obama is set to begin his last news conference of the year. keeping an eye on the podium there at the press briefing room at the white house. we'll be back after the break.

>> welcome back. taking you to d.c. again as president obama getting ready to hold his last news conference of the year. later tonight he and his family will head to hawaii for their christmas vacation. once the president's news conference begins, we will bring that to you live. we're still waiting at this time. well, it is the end of the workweek, and for millions the start of a very long holiday. there's a holiday gift for a lot of travellers this year to tell you about. nbc bay area's jay gray has the latest from atlanta. tis the season to travel, and triple-a says 94.5 million will pack the roadways and runways during the holidays. >> it's the fifth year in a row of increases, and, in fact, it's the most people ever traveling for the holidays. >> reporter: drivers are getting a gift as they pack up and pull out. prices at the pump are the lowest they've been in three years during the holiday season.

>> the gas prices helps put a little extra money. presents, things like that. >> around 5.5 million passengers will line up at security gates and load to planes from the travel website kayak.com indicate the most popular destinations this weekend are along the east coast. while the hot spots to spend new year's eve are on the beach in florida, mexico, and the caribbean. a wave of travellers starting the new year in the sand and surf. >> the beach doesn't sound like a bad idea or wherever you might be travel this week. there's a weather system that could threaten some trips, especially across the midwest. jay gray, nbc news, atlanta. home for the holidays. lawmakers will be in their home state during the holiday season. 2009 they couldn't be there because they were spending christmas fighting over the president's health care plan. 2010 it was the bush era tax cut.

2011 the payroll tax holiday, and 2012, the fiscal cliff that kept everyone close to washington d.c. by taking a break, they've put off some business, including the confirmation vote on january elyellin. had he is slated to replace ben bernanke in 2014. yellin is a professor at u.c. berkeley's school of business. her vote has been delayed until january 6th. the first family is also leaving town for for the holidays. they take off for hawaii tonight. a bay area development company has pulled its plan for a massive project in one of palo alto's busiest areas. on paige mill road. san francisco-based developer jay paul company had planned to build a new 300,000 square foot office complex there. plans also included a new earthquake-safe public safety building across the street. the company sites political climate in palo alto as the reason for pulling the plug. the city council had expressed concerns over increased traffic along one of city's most

congested areas. well, during the holidays, there's always someone who waits until the last minute to buy gifts. >> i'm with you on that one. >> if are you one of those people, are you in luck. scott mcgrew joins us with a gadget friday, especially for the holidays. >> merry almost christmas to you. the biggest question i've been getting from patients this year is whether they should buy the playstation 4 or the xbox one. they're both new gaming platforms. this is playstation's year. i have always been an xbox user, but i'm recommending the sony playstation 4. it's less expensive and easier to find. as for tablets, i want to like the amazon kindle fire, but i still like the ipad better. now, as for which ipad? buy what you can afford. they're all really the same. some are big. some are small. some are light. they're all ipads. use the same reasoning if you are trying to decide which tv to buy. they're all going to be bigger and better than the one you have now, right? so anyone will be fine. i really do like gifts that give back. these bam boo biodegradable

toothbrushes come from smiles for the people. you buy one, and the company sends another or its cash equivalent for dental health in the developing world. it's a good stocking stufr. this is a neat gift basket from globe in. it's made by a woman in mexico. here's lester holt. >> good day. in a few minutes we expect to hear president obama in what we expect to be his last formal news conference of the year before he and the family head off to their annual holiday vacation in hawaii. the president will meet the press with his disapproval rating the highest of his presidency, 54% according to the last nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. those negative numbers largely rooted in issues with health care, including technical issues with the health care website itself. let's go to nbc's chuck todd now, our white house correspondent. chuck, the president administration announced some changes to this law and individual mandate yesterday. briefly explain what they are.

>> with just 72 hours to go before the deadline where you have to sign up for health insurance if you want to have it by january 1st, the change is this. if you've gotten a cancellation notice, one of those hundreds of thousands or millions that have gotten cancellation notices on your policy and you wanted to keep it and you did not like the choices that you had due to perhaps price or other issues, you can file a hardship claim now. there is always a loophole in the law about a hardship exemption. you can file that and be eligible for one of these low-cost catastrophic plans that previously weren't available to you, lester. it's causing a little bit of havoc as far as insurance companies are concerned today. >> let's briefly get to david gregory, our moderator of "meet the press." david, how would the administration sum up this year, the kind of year it's been. >> it's been a tough year politically and policy on health care. it will be a big political story next year both for midterms and the president's standing and a real test for progressive government, whether it can carry off a program this large, truly

a big part of this president's second term. >> does there appear to be a reset moment on the horizon for him in 2014? >> he'd like one. he'd like it with the website getting cleared up and more positive news. i also expect him to talk about the economy. that, of course, is the other big thrust of his second term. can he see enough economic rebound that he gets credit for that and can that be a driver for some of the things he'd like to do around the budget. we've got a budget deal, a small one. we're really not tackling the big issues like entitlements. the president hasn't been able to steer toward a grand bargain on that. he'd like to and that's where economic progress might clear the way. >> chuck, foreign policy issues that might pop up today? >> you could, but i expect if there is one national security issue, it's going to be nsa. we know the president plans to announce some major reforms after the first of the year, but what are his reactions to the reforms, the recommendations that he received this week, which we all know about, about different ways to curtail some of this massive data gathering. so i expect nsa to be a lot, perhaps something on a run on

syria. >> this will be the president's 44th solo press conference of his second -- two terms in office. his last news conference was back in november of 2013. quickly, chuck, before we get to the president, this is, as we noted, he's about to head off on his holiday vacation. this is a traditional news conference. do we expect any major announcements in the opening statements? >> i imagine we will hear more about health care. i believe i hear the click and he's behind me, so i will sit. >> good afternoon, everybody. i know you are all eager to skip town and spend some time with your families. not surprisingly, i am too. but you know what they say, it's the most wonderful press conference of the year right now. i am eager to take your questions, but first i just want to say a few words about our economy. in 2013, our businesses created another two million jobs, adding up to more than eight million in

just over the past 45 months. this morning we learned that over the summer, our economy grew at its strongest pace in nearly two years. the unemployment rate has steadily fallen to its lowest point in five years. our tax code is fair and our fiscal situation is firmer with deficits that are now less than half of what they were when i took office. for the first time in nearly two decades, we now produce more oil here at home than we buy from the rest of the world. and our all of the above strategy for new american energy means lower energy costs. the affordable care act has helped keep health care costs growing at their slowest rate in 50 years. combined, that means bigger paychecks for middle class families and bigger savings for businesses looking to invest and hire here in america. and for all the challenges we've had and all the challenges that

we've been working on diligently in dealing with both the aca and the website these past couple months, more than half a million americans have been rolled through healthcare.gov in the first three weeks of december alone. in california, for example, the state operating its own marketplace, more than 15,000 americans are enrolling every single day. and in the federal website, tens of thousands are enrolling every single day. since october 1st, more than one million americans have selected new health insurance plans through the federal and state market places, so all told millions of americans, despite the problems with the website, are now poised to be covered by quality affordable health insurance come new year's day. now, this holiday season there are mothers and fathers and entrepreneurs and workers who have something new to celebrate. the security of knowing that when the unexpected or misfortune strikes, hardship no

longer has to. you add that all up and what it means is we head into next year with an economy that's stronger than it was when we started the year, more americans are finding work and experiencing the fight of a paycheck, our american businesses are positioned for new growth and new jobs and i firmly believe that 2014 can be a break-through year for america. but, as i outlined in detail earlier this month, we all know there's a lot more that we're going to have to do to restore opportunity and broad-based growth for every american, and that's going to require some action. it's a good start that earlier this week for the first time in years both parties in both houses of congress came together to pass a budget. that unwinds some of the damaging sequester cuts that created headwinds for our economy. it clears the path for businesses and for investments that we need to strengthen our middle class, like education and

scientific research. and it means that the american people won't be exposed to the threat of another reckless shutdown every few months, so that's a good thing. it's probably too early to declare an outbreak of bipartisanship, but it's also fair to say that we're not condemned to endless gridlock. there are areas where we can work together. i believe that work should begin with something that republicans in congress should have done before leaving town this week, and that's restoring the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet when they are looking for a job. because congress didn't act, more than one million of their constituents will lose a vital economic lifeline at christmas time, leaving a lot of job seekers without any source of income at all. i think we're a better country than that. we don't abandon each other when times are tough. keep in mind unemployment insurance only goes to folks who are actively looking for work.

a mom who needs help feeding her kids when she sends out her resumes, or a dad who needs help paying the rent while working part-time and still earning the skills that he needs for that new job. so when congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right. i know a bipartisan group is working on a three-month extension of this insurance. they should pass it and i'll sign it right away. let me repeat, i think 2014 needs to be a year of action. we've got work to do to create more good jobs, to help more americans earn the skills and education they need to do those jobs and to make sure that those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families build a little bit of financial security. we still have the task of finishing the fix on our broken immigration system. we've got to build on the progress we've painstakingly made over these last five years

with respect to our economy and offer the middle class and all those who are looking to join the middle class a better opportunity. and that's going to be where i focus all of my efforts in the year ahead. and let me conclude by saying just as we're strengthening our position here at home, we're also standing up for our interests around the world. this year we've demonstrated that with clear-eyed principled diplomacy, we can pursue new paths to a world that's more secure, a future where iran does not build a nuclear weapon, a future where syria's chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed. by the end of next year, the war in afghanistan will be over, just as we've ended our war in iraq, and we'll continue to bring our troops home. as always, we will remain vigilant to protect our homeland and our personnel overseas from terrorist attacks. of course a lot of our men and women in uniform are still overseas, and a lot of them are

still spending their christmas far away from their family and their friends. in some cases it's still in harm's way. so i want to close by saying to them and their families back home, we want to thank you. your country stands united in supporting you and being grateful for your service and your sacrifice. we will keep you in our thoughts and in our prayers during this season of hope. so before i wish a merry christmas to all and to all a good night, i will take some questions. jay prepared a list of who's naughty and nice, so we'll see who made it. julie must be nice. julie pace. >> thank you, mr. president. despite all of the data points that you cited in your opening statement, when you look back at this year, very little of the domestic agenda that you outlined in your inaugural address and your state of the union has been achieved. health care rollout obviously had huge problems and your ratings from the public are near historic lows for you.

when you take this altogether, has this been the worst year of your presidency? >> i've got to tell you, julie, that's not how i think about it. i have now been in office five years, close to five years. i was running for president for two years before that. and for those of you who have covered me during that time, we have had ups and we have had downs. i think this room has probably recorded at least 15 near-death experiences. and what i've been focused on each and every day is are we moving the ball and helping the american people, families, have more opportunity, have a little more security, to feel as if, if they work hard, they can get ahead.

and if i look at this past year, there are areas where there obviously has been some frustrations where i wish congress had moved more aggressively. you know, not passing background checks in the wake of newtown is something that i continue to believe was a mistake, but then i also look at because of the debate that occurred, all the work that's been done at state levels to increase gun safety and to make sure that we don't see tragedies like that happen again. there's a lot of focus on legislative activity at the congressional level, but even when congress doesn't move on things they should move on, there are a whole bunch of things that we're still doing, so we don't always get attention for it, but the connect ed program that we announced where we're going to be initiating wireless capacity in every classroom in america will make a huge difference for kids all

across this country and for teachers. a manufacturing hub that we set up in youngstown, something that i talked about during the state of the union, is going to create innovation and connect universities, manufacturers, job training to help create a renaissance -- build on a renaissance that we're seeing in manufacturing. when it comes to energy, this year is going to be the first year in a very long time where we're producing more oil and natural gas here in this country than we're importing. that's a big deal. so i understand the points that you're getting at, julie, which is that a lot of our legislative initiatives in congress have not moved forward as rapidly as i'd like. i completely understand that.

which means that i'm going to keep at it. and if you look at, for example, immigration reform, probably the biggest thing that i wanted to get done this year, we saw progress. it passed the senate with a strong bipartisan vote. there are indications in the house that even though it did not get completed this year, that there is a commitment on the part of the speaker to try to move forward legislation early next year, and the fact that i'd prefer is obviously frustrating, but it's not something that i end up brooding a lot about. >> it's not just your legislative agenda. when you talked to americans, they seem to have lost confidence in your, trust in you, your credibility has taken a hit. obviously the health care law was a big part of that. do you understand that those -- that the public has changed in some way their view of you over this year? >> but julie, i guess what